Statement on encampments at the University of Exeter – Updated 4 July 2024
Our University community remains deeply distressed and saddened by the ongoing suffering caused through the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine. We support those who seek an end to this suffering and advocate for a lasting, just and equitable resolution.
In common with many UK universities, unauthorised encampments have been set up on our Streatham and Penryn campuses, protesting the stance of UK universities regarding the conflict. Since their establishment, we have maintained regular contact with the protestors to uphold their freedom of speech within the law, while minimising disruption to University activities, such as exams and Open Days. Alongside colleagues from the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union, we have conducted daily welfare visits to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those participating in the protests.
Our engagement with members of the Penryn encampment was ongoing when, on 24 June, there was a brief occupation of Tremough House by members of the group. We are investigating this incident. Later that day the members of the camp voluntarily took down their tents and disbanded.
Senior University leaders met and corresponded with representatives of the Streatham camp a number of times over recent weeks, supported by the Students’ Guild, to provide clarity on our position in relation to their demands, to propose some next steps and to reinforce the importance of respecting our University community and upholding our values, including through demonstrating respect and inclusion.
In many areas, there is pre-existing alignment between the University’s positions and the concerns of the Streatham encampment, and two working groups have now been set up to develop actions on enhancing our investment policies and providing support for the rehabilitation of Palestinian higher education. We requested that the Streatham camp be brought to a close to enable representatives to have input to these working groups and to enable us to move forward in a collaborative way. The camp disbanded on 3 July.
As a University, we are committed to supporting our community members affected by the crisis. We are also resolute in upholding academic freedom and freedom of expression, including the right to peaceful protest. We have worked closely with students and colleagues to safely facilitate free speech at more than 20 significant events and protests over recent months. This has been a challenging time for our community, and we have sought to uphold academic freedom in this way, whilst understanding that such events can sometimes cause distress to members of our community.
Whilst protest may occur throughout the summer, we have made it clear to student representatives that any disruption to the experience of graduands and their families during Graduation would be completely unacceptable.
As a University we are committed to continuing our work on these important issues, and we will do so, working alongside our colleagues and student representatives, including the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union.
To provide clarity on our positions, and the work we are doing which relates to the concerns of the protestors, we have set these out below.
1. Investment and Treasury Management policies
The University of Exeter does not invest in the arms trade, and we refute the assertion that, through our investments or through our partnerships and research, the University community, or any individuals within it, are somehow “complicit in genocide”.
Our Investment Policy prioritises investment towards companies with “best in class” Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) credentials. As a result, we do not have direct investments in the defence industry. This policy is constantly under review and includes provisions for specific investments to be queried with the Chief Financial Officer.
We hold our investment managers to account for their performance, and we have included student representatives in our oversight meetings since 2018. They are encouraged to raise their concerns with respect to moral and ethical issues, and they do so.
We accept that, in common with many universities, some of the companies in which our investment managers or their agents may have made minor investments can be shown to have indirect links to Israel, but these categorically do not include directly funding defence or the armed forces. Whilst we can query the investments made by the endowment manager on our behalf, the disposal of indirect holdings is not possible in the short term, owing to the structure and nature of unit trusts. These can be kept under review in the longer term.
Following discussions over this academic year, we will work with student representatives to further enhance transparency on ‘treasury’ investments, which are the investments we make using our shorter-term cash deposits. We will discuss next steps through our well-established oversight meetings, offering the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union Presidents (or their nominees) the opportunity to scrutinise our cash investments on a bi-annual basis, as they do for our endowment investments. We are also ready to discuss expanding the criteria which we use to automatically rule out certain types of investment (known as “Negative Screens”) to include the defence sector.
2. Support for Palestinian scholarships and the reconstruction of higher education in Palestine.
This is an area of work we are committed to supporting, and where we are already engaging with the Council for At Risk Academics (CARA) and the British Council. As a University of Sanctuary, we offer scholarships each year to students who have sought sanctuary in the UK, alongside other opportunities for Palestinian students to come to the University.
We have committed to engaging with coordinated action at a sector level, through Universities UK (UUK), on how we can help rebuild education and access to education for students in Palestine. Exeter has leading scholars in this area, and we would intend to take a significant role in this important work.
We will establish a working group to take forward the work on support for Palestinian students and institutions, involving colleagues with expertise in this area and student representatives.
3. Due diligence policy and corporate partnerships, including partnership principles
We support the vital freedom of our academics to pursue their research, with the necessary approvals in place, and we ensure that our partnerships and research have been closely scrutinised. We keep this under close and ongoing review.
Our partnership principles were developed in 2022/23, by a working group including student representation, and were agreed by University Council in October 2023. These principles apply to all new relationships involving other funders, including private sector, philanthropic and overseas organisations.
The protestors have raised concerns relating to Tel Aviv University. The University of Exeter does not have any formal partnerships or programmes with Tel Aviv University. References to a relationship between the two universities relate to a mobility grant, from a Universities UK International (UUKi)-coordinated, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology-funded scheme for academic-to-academic collaboration.
We have provided further detail on the nature and timing of relationships with those companies highlighted as of most concern to those taking part in the encampment, confirming that our research projects have been through the due diligence, ethics and risk assessment checks and approvals which were in place at the time the projects were developed.
We have restated our legal duties to uphold the academic freedom of our colleagues to pursue partnerships that are relevant to their research, so long as these are within the law. The targeting of specific research partnerships, colleagues and students in this way goes against support for academic freedom.
4. Safeguarding academic freedom and freedom of speech for students and staff
We have consistently safeguarded freedom of speech and expression and academic freedom for all members of our community. We are unambiguous in our support for all colleagues and students at this time, including our commitment to protecting the right to debate openly and freely.
We have supported the organisers of a wide range of events since October 2023, even when some members of our community have not agreed with our approach, and we will continue to do so, where these can be reviewed through our established processes and are appropriately risk assessed. Risk assessments apply equally to all events taking place at the University, not exclusively to protests, nor to events concerning the current conflict
This approach has enabled the camp to carry out their protests to date. Together with the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union, we have worked with a wide range of groups and individuals over recent months to allow many events and protests to be staged, and we have defended our colleagues when their academic freedom to speak within the law on this topic has been challenged.
We promote a culture of debate, built on the principle of tolerance of different views and beliefs. We also remain committed to eradicating any instances of racism, abuse, discrimination, or harassment. We will take all necessary steps to support our Jewish colleagues and students and to protect them from antisemitism, just as we will support and protect our Muslim colleagues and students from Islamophobia. Any abuse based on Palestinian or Israeli national identities will not be tolerated. We urge anyone who has witnessed or experienced any form of abuse to use the Exeter Speaks Out tool to report incidents.
Academic freedom and freedom of expression will be vigorously protected at the University of Exeter, as long as discourse is legal and conducted in line with our values of community, inclusion and respect.
Finally this continuing crisis raises many difficult issues for members of our community. Please treat everyone with respect, kindness and compassion during this challenging time. We will of course continue our work with the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union to ensure the wellbeing of those taking part in the camps.
If you are a student and you need support, or someone to talk to, please do get in touch with Wellbeing Services in Exeter and Cornwall. They are here to help.
If you are a member of staff who needs support, please speak with your line manager or our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), Spectrum Life, which is a confidential, neutral service.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
University Executive Board